“Evidence-based” is a term that started in medical fields and has been adopted in many others, especially education.
It’s the current incarnation of longer-term efforts to integrate extensive bodies research into everyday practice. It’s similar to previously promoted concepts like “What Works,” and research-to-practice.
STC has run some virtual research-to-practice conferences, and published a great compilation of research-based heuristics for developing web-based information in the Third Quarter 2000 issue of Technical Communication.
Iva Cheung summarizes a 2013 presentation by Karen Schriver that discusses evidence-based practices in plain language and that addresses these specific topics. Some of the recommendations differ from earlier ones as technology changes and our base of research goes.
- Audiences, readers, and users
- Nominalizations
- Conditionals
- Lists
- Text Density
- Serif versus sans-serif
- Layout and design
- Impressions and opinions
- Technology
- Teamwork in writing and design
Check out the summary at:
http://www.ivacheung.com/2013/11/karen-schriver-plain-by-design-evidence-based-plain-language-plain-2013/
Information Design 